A corpora



A. P. AND l.. R. BOURBON.

MERRY-GO-ROUND. APPucATlon man ocr. 1s. 1.9196.

1,313,668. P9tentedAug-191919.

THE COLUMBIA PIANUGRAPH co., WASHINdTON, n. C.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE ALLEN P. BOURBON AND LEO R. BOURBON, OF WOODSTOCK, VERMONT, ASSIGNORS TO WOODSTOCK MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WOODSTOCK, VERMONT, A CORPORA- TION.

MERRY-GO-ROUND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 19, 1919.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, ALLEN P. BoUnDoN and LEo R. BoURDoN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Woodstock, in the county of Windsor and in the State of Vermont, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Merry-Go-Rounds, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of our invention, primarily, is to provide in a simple and compact form and in a form, which, while readily portable will possess all required strength and stability, an amusement device of the merrygo-round type, and to this end and to such others as will be appreciated when the nature of the invention and the embodiment thereof are better understood from the hereinafter given description, said invention consists in the apparatus constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying one form of our invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a different Vembodiment of our invention.

Briefly described our invention comprehends any number of seats for passengers mounted to revolve in a horizontal direction around a vertical axis, and a suitable number of propelling arms, or levers, preferably one for each seat provided so that each person occupying a seat may participate in the work of propulsion.

A base 10 is provided, which, as shown, may take the form of intersecting, or crossing bars of sufficient length to afford stability, which are joined, where they intersect, to dach other and to a central platform 11, to which is rigidly attached and from which rises vertically a round post 12, which may be a piece of pipe, or tubing. Said post is secured at its bottom to a flanged socket 13 that is securedby screws or bolts to the platform. Pivotally mounted upon the post, so as to be rotatable about the same, is a plurality of radial arms, each of which at its outer end supports a seat 14. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, there are two seats and, therefore, two radial arms, and the two arms are formed of a light frame-work which consists of a pair of parallel horlzontal bars 15 which straddle and are secured to the upper portion of a tube,

or sleeve 16, which is fitted to rotate upon the post, and braces 17, which are attached to and extend from the lower end of said tube, or sleeve, upward and outward, and at their outer ends are securely fixed to the horizontal frame bars. The braces at thier lower ends are secured to each other and to the sleeve by two plates 18 situated on opposite sides of the sleeve and bolts 19, which pass through the plates and the ends of the braces between them. It will be seen that the braces, by reason of their location, are compression members, they are situated where they are not in the way, and they aid in placing the center of gravity of the apparatus very low, so that while its parts are few, and in themselves light, the structure has abundant strength and stability so that it cannot easily be overturned. By reason of the construction, the frame-work forming the arms can be made of wood. The pair of horizontal bars 15 are bolted to a flange collar 21 which is secured to the upper end of the sleeve. The tube, or sleeve 16 rests at its bottom upon the top of the post socket 13. Thus a strong, light frame work supported by a long bearing upon the central post which affords ample rigidity to the structure, is provided. At the top of the post at a height about the plane, or level of the out-stretched arms of the occupants of the seats, is rigidly fixed a wheel 22, preferably a toothed wheel, although not necessarily such, and preferably for each car, or sea-t. a radially extending arm, or lever Q3, is pivoted to the post concentric with the wheel, and to each is pivotally attached a spring-held pawl 24, which engages the teeth, or periphery of the wheel, so that when the occupant of a seat, or car grasps the outer end of an arm, or lever, which is in a convenient position to reach and pushes the lever forward and then pulls backward upon it, rearward movement of the lever will be prevented by engagement of the pawl and wheel, and thus the occupant of the seat and the latter will Vbe propelled forward and, of course, with sufficient force to carry forward the operating lever feria repetition of the operation just described, with the result that the seat occupant and the seatwill be carried around" tax upon the strength, by reason of thev The operating arms, or levers, are preferably made ofv wood and each is pivotally connected withf length of the operating lever.

the post, or upright by a pair of metal straps 25 bolted, respectively, to the top and bottom of the arm and ,reaching over the wheel, and the pivoting ends of the straps of the two arms lap past eachother. The dog, or pawl 24 is conveniently pivoted between these straps.

With the seats, or cars connected together in pairs, as shown in Fig. l, each occupant of a seat contributes to the propulsion of both seats, or if desired, the propelling movement may be performed by one person. In the form of our invention shown in Fig. 3, instead of connecting diametrically opposite seats rigidly together in pairs that rotate together, the seats are' mounted independently upon the stationary post, Aso that there can be relative movement ofthe seats in the circular path in order to introduce the element ofv racing. In this case, of course, for each seat there is provided its "own operating lever and'preferably means are-provided to prevent collision of one seat with another, which means may take the form of a stop projectionv 26, attached to each seat supporting arm 150, and located preferably near the-pivotal post, which, by contact with the preceding seat arm will prevent the coming together of the seats. In this ease the braces 170 aref'independent of each other and each has at its inner postengaging end its own eye 171 connecting it with the post 12.

In constructing the apparatus for use of children, each seat, at least on its outer side, as is common in meriy-go-rounds, may be given the form of a horse, or other animal, or other object which `would be attractive, or appeal to children. f

As preferably constructed, certain of the arms of the base 10 have a hinged, orV pivoted connection with the platform -11,fso

that they may be folded up for convenience in storing and shipping. Thus, as-,shown in the drawings, where four bars, or legsk are employed, two opposite ones may consist of a continuous piece rigidly, orl fixedly secured to the platform 11, while each of the other two is hinged by bolts, or screws 27 at Copies of this patent may be obtained for the base, and

at the inner end of each is a tenon`28 adapted to enter a mortise 29 in the rigid leg when the hinged'leg is swung into position for use.

Of course, we do not limitourselves to any particular form of seat, or passenger support, as the same may have any of the forms y common in merry-gorounds, or any desired form. "f

`It Awill be evident that our apparatus, while primarily intended as an amusement device for children,:.ma-nevertheless, be given a form suiting it for adults forexercise purposes.4 o v A Having thus described our invention what we claim is l. In a devicefvof they class described, the

combination of a supportingvbase, a post rising therefrom, a `plurality of seats, an arm for each seat radiating from the post,

said arms being capable of independent rotary movement, a sleeve to which the arm is attached mounted' to revolve about the post, av wheel fixed vstationarily to the post above the arms, and propelling; means-comprisingA an larm pvoted to the post and radiating therefrom tothe seat, and a pawl carried by said arm.

2.` In a device of the vclass described, the combination vof a supporting base,Y -a plurality of seats mounted for .independent rota-1 tion horizontally about afcommon vertical axis, and means for propelling a seat independently of adjacent seats in the rotation thereof about said common axis, whereby the distance apart ofthe seats may vary their movement around such axis.

3. In adevice of the class described', the combination-of a supporting base comprising a platform, and legs extending outwardly therefrom, certain ofwhich A,are pivotally connected with thel base to swing horizontally, a post rising therefrom, a plurality of seats, an independent arm for each seat radiating from the post, a` sleeve to which the arm is attached mounted to revolveabout thefpost, a wheelfixedy statonarily tothe post above the arms, and` propelling means comprising an arm pivoted to the post and radiatingtherefrom-to the seat, and a pawl carried by saidI arm.4

In testimony' that we claim the we have hereunto set our hands.

ALLEN P. BoURDoN. LEo R. BoUanoN.

foregoing 

